Experimental study of pool boiling on surface of metal foam with open cells

The pool boiling performance on a horizontal surface of high porosity copper foam with a thickness of 30 mm is experimentally studied. The bubble growth visualization in a nucleate boiling process is recorded by a high-speed camera. The influences of wall superheat on a wall heat flux, bubble growth cycle and bubble departure diameter are investigated. It reveals that the total nucleate pooling heat transfer coefficient is lower than that on a smooth surface since the foam thickness is too high to offer much friction force to bubble departure while wall superheat for the boiling starting point is reduced to 3°C.